Threat Puts Fla. County Schools on Lockdown

Threat Puts Fla. County Schools on Lockdown

Published November 10, 2010

PEMBROKE PINES, Fla. – Florida authorities have lifted the lockdown of all schools in the nation's sixth-largest district after police say the credibility of a threat made against students has diminished.

Broward County school officials lifted the lockdown Wednesday afternoon after several hours and said students would be dismissed normally. They said more police officers would be present, but didn't elaborate on why the threat had diminished.

The lockdown began after a woman called a radio station and said her husband might go to a school and start shooting.

Police are still investigating the threat and no suspects have been identified.

The radio station then found an earlier e-mail, possibly from the man, saying "something big was going to happen," possibly at a post office or a school.

THIS IS A BREAKING NEWS UPDATE. Check back soon for further information. AP's earlier story is below.

PEMBROKE PINES, Fla. (AP) — Schools in the nation's sixth-largest school district were on lockdown Wednesday, and police in bullet-proof vests guarded at least some entrances after authorities said an unidentified woman called a radio station, saying her husband might go to a school and start shooting.

Pembroke Pines Police Capt. Daniel Rakofsky said an earlier e-mail to the radio station, maybe from the man in question, said "something big was going to happen," possibly at a post office or a school.

Schools in Pembroke Pines, a suburb of Fort Lauderdale, were initially placed on lockdown as a precaution. The lockdown was then extended to all 300 Broward County schools. The county has nearly 257,000 students.

Neither the man nor the woman have been identified, though police said they were following several leads.

Rakofsky said that all schools are safe. He would not identify the radio station.

Nervous parents flooded telephone lines and showed up at schools as word of the lockdown spread.

Irma Hernandez had tears in her eyes as she and her husband waited outside Charles W. Flanagan High School, where her 15-year-old son is a student.